With "Passage in June National Assembly"... Will the 'High-Level Radioactive Waste Special Act' Stalled in the National Assembly Gain Momentum?

2030 Hanbit Nuclear Plant Storage Saturation
Local Governments Living with Waste at Nuclear Plants
Opposition: "Differences Have Not Yet Been Narrowed"

"Residents living near nuclear power plants have borne the risk of storing spent nuclear fuel temporarily on the plant sites due to the government's lack of policy, and they are now faced with the situation of having to live with this risk until a permanent disposal facility is established."

The five local governments hosting nuclear power plants (Uljin County, Gyeongju City, Yeonggwang County, Gijang County, and Ulju County) recently held a press conference at the National Assembly to raise their voices on this issue. Amid the government's shifting policy stance between nuclear power and denuclearization, these local governments stated that they have lived with the high-level radioactive spent nuclear fuel, known as "high-level radioactive waste (HLW)," which emits a high level of radioactivity after the construction of nuclear power plants, and urged the enactment of a special law.

Why is a special law needed? ... Local governments living with nuclear power plants and their waste

According to the current Nuclear Safety Act, high-level radioactive waste refers to waste that emits alpha radiation with a heat generation rate of 2 kW/m³ or more and has a half-life of over 20 years, with a radioactivity concentration of 4,000 becquerels (Bq) or more per gram. Most of this waste is spent nuclear fuel. These wastes should be managed through stages of temporary storage, intermediate storage, and permanent disposal, but since South Korea currently lacks intermediate and permanent storage facilities, the spent fuel is kept cooled in temporary storage pools located within the nuclear power plant sites. This process reduces the heat and radioactivity emitted by the spent nuclear fuel after use.

The problem is that spent nuclear fuel, which takes tens of thousands of years for its radioactivity levels to drop to natural background levels, cannot be stored indefinitely in temporary facilities within the nuclear power plants. This is why a high-level radioactive waste disposal facility, which permanently seals and buries the waste deep underground, is necessary. The government began site selection for a disposal facility in 1983 when it established the spent nuclear fuel management policy, but in 2005, it only designated Gyeongju as a site for low- and intermediate-level waste disposal. The high-level waste disposal facility has been stalled for many years due to opposition from local residents.

As temporary storage facilities approach saturation, the need for a high-level waste disposal facility has resurfaced. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, storage facilities are expected to reach capacity sequentially starting with Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant in 2030, followed by Hanul Nuclear Power Plant in 2031, and Kori Nuclear Power Plant in 2032. The Yoon Seok-yeol administration's efforts to revitalize nuclear power operations have accelerated this timeline by about one year compared to projections made in December 2021. Considering that it takes at least 37 years to establish a high-level waste disposal facility?including 13 years for investigation, 14 years for demonstration research, and 10 years for construction?even if construction begins immediately, it will be too late to prevent saturation.

Lee Seung-ryeol, Director of the Nuclear Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "The management of high-level radioactive waste remains a long-term challenge, but after more than ten years of public discussion and with three special bills currently under discussion in the National Assembly, it is now time for the prompt passage of these bills." He added, "Especially to alleviate local residents' concerns about the permanent nature of dry storage facilities within nuclear power plants, the enactment of a special law must proceed in parallel."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Ruling Party "Considering Extension of Nuclear Plant Lifespan" VS Opposition "According to Initial Design Lifespan"... Will It Pass in the 21st National Assembly?

Since the 20th National Assembly, the political sphere has attempted to legislate a special law on high-level radioactive waste, but all efforts were discarded upon the expiration of the assembly's term, intertwined with the Moon Jae-in administration's denuclearization policy. In 2019, Kim Kyung-jin, then a member of the Democratic Peace Party, along with nine other lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties, submitted a "Resolution Urging the Establishment of Measures for High-Level Radioactive Waste Management and Strengthening Safety Management" to the National Assembly. They criticized the Moon Jae-in administration's decision in August of the following year to reconsider the expansion plan for spent nuclear fuel storage facilities announced by the Park Geun-hye administration in 2016, citing insufficient public consultation, and urged prompt measures.

In the 21st National Assembly, three special bills related to high-level radioactive waste are pending. Lawmakers Lee In-seon and Kim Young-sik from the People Power Party have proposed bills, and Kim Seong-hwan from the Democratic Party has also submitted a bill. These bills commonly include provisions for establishing a High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Committee, procedures for selecting disposal site locations, support systems for disposal site hosting areas, and procedures for installing temporary storage facilities within nuclear power plants.

However, there are disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties. A key point of contention is the storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel within the nuclear power plant storage facilities. Kim Seong-hwan's bill defines the capacity of storage facilities on nuclear power plant sites as "the predicted amount generated during the design lifespan period." In other words, the storage capacity is limited to the design lifespan period when the nuclear power plant was initially licensed, and once the lifespan ends, the storage capacity cannot be increased.

On the other hand, Kim Young-sik's bill specifies the capacity as "the amount expected to be generated during the operational period, including continued operation," and Lee In-seon's bill states "the amount generated during the licensed operational period." These reflect considerations that the nuclear plant lifespan may be extended. The local governments hosting nuclear power plants expressed concerns about the permanent nature of storage facilities on the plant sites and supported the related provisions in Kim Seong-hwan's bill during a press conference on the 12th.

The People Power Party has urged the Democratic Party to accept the bill and argued that it should be passed as soon as possible. Park Dae-chul, the Policy Committee Chair, said at a party strategy meeting on the 13th, "If the Democratic Party is not scheming a second denuclearization, they should actively engage in passing the high-level radioactive waste law," adding, "We must ensure the bill passes during the June extraordinary session." Lawmaker Lee In-seon, who proposed the bill, said on the same day, "If there is consensus between the parties, it will pass smoothly," and "In the previous National Assembly, (Democratic Party member) Woo Won-shik proposed a bill, and now Kim Seong-hwan has proposed one, but there is consensus that it should proceed."

The Democratic Party agrees on the necessity of the bill but finds it difficult to agree on "passing it within June." A Democratic Party official from the Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Business Committee said, "We believe the differences have not yet been narrowed," and "While there is consensus on the need for measures, we cannot agree to rush the bill's passage by setting a fixed timeline regardless of content." They also added that discussions on more detailed compensation for residents in areas where high-level radioactive waste disposal facilities will be established need to be sufficiently conducted.

The special law has been submitted to the subcommittee eight times since its first submission on November 22, 2022, but no clear consensus has been reached between the ruling and opposition parties. Furthermore, the chairperson of the Industry, Trade, and Small and Medium Business Committee and the ruling party's secretary were only confirmed in mid-June, leading to predictions that passing the bill in the subcommittee this month will be difficult. Currently, no schedules have been set for the subcommittee or full committee meetings this month. An official from the committee said, "With changes in the secretary and committee members, the subcommittee may be postponed to July."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.